Joseph Williams Lovibond

Joseph Williams Lovibond (17 November 1833 – 21 April 1918) was a British brewer who developed the world's first practical colorimeter as a means of ensuring the high quality of his beer. He was the originator of the Degrees Lovibond scale.

Biography

After accidentally losing his earnings from gold mining as a teenager, Lovibond went to work in his family's brewery. He discovered that coloration was a good index for assessing the quality of beer, and sought an accurate way of gauging color. After failed experiments with paint, on solids, a visit to Salisbury Cathedral in 1880 gave him the inspiration to use stained glass for his colorimeter, which he introduced in 1885.[1]

Business

In 1885 he founded a company, The Tintometer Limited,[2] to manufacture his colorimeter which was called the Lovibond Comparator. The company still exists and still produces an updated version of the Lovibond comparator.

Publications
  • Measurement of Light and Colour Sensations: A New Method of Investigating the Phenomena of Light and Colour by Means of the Selective Absorption in Coloured Glass, Graded Into Scales of Equivalent Colour Value. Gill. 1894.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Light and Colour Theories and Their Relation to Light and Colour Standardization. London: E. & F.N. Spon. 1915 – via Internet Archive.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • The Genesis of Colour. [With Plates.]. The Tintometer. 1915.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • The Tintometer: An Instrument for the Analysis, Accurate Measuring and Recording of All Colors (pdf). Tintometer Limited. 1904.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Notes and references
  1. Finlay 2007, p. 103.
  2. Kuehni & Schwarz 2007, p. 212.


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